Bijel Processing for the Synthesis of Co-continuous Electrochemical Composites with Tunable Microstructure

具有其组成相的共连续布置的复合材料对于电化学能量存储和转换是非常有价值的。特别是在电池中，同时最大化系统的存储容量和功率输送的需要要求电极由具有共连续形态的电化学活性复合材料制成，所述共连续形态在与其电化学功能相关的长度尺度（纳米至数十微米）上是可调的。 为此，拟议的计划将寻求开发一个新的平台，用于合成散装电化学复合材料与可调的共同连续的微观结构，使用软物质模板技术最近开发的主要研究者？的实验室。 该方法将基于固体稳定的乳液的自组装，该乳液固有地具有可调的共连续微观结构，以及随后的不同相的化学转化。 将这些共同连续的软材料转化为电化学功能复合材料所需的加工条件进行系统的研究，并在控制其形态和电化学性能的物理化学和加工参数的基本作用将得到解决。如果成功的话，该计划将提出一种新的方法来设计复合电极，满足有效储存和快速输送电化学能量的设计标准，这是由于其独特的微观结构。 由于合成方案是基于在多相混合物中的自组装，因此它允许这样的材料在宏观尺寸上容易地制备，具有在微观水平上可调的共连续形态。 了解这些软材料模板加工成共连续复合材料的基本参数也可以在多种其他应用中产生强烈的影响，包括催化，组织工程，分离和通过多孔介质传输的基础研究。

Composite materials with co-continuous arrangement of their constituent phases are highly valuable for electrochemical energy storage and conversion. Particularly in batteries, the need to simultaneously maximize the storage capacity and power delivery of the system requires the electrodes to be made of electrochemically active composites with co-continuous morphology that is tunable at length scales relevant to their electrochemical function (nano- to tens of micrometers). To this end, the proposed program will seek to develop a new platform for the synthesis of bulk electrochemical composites with tunable co-continuous microstructure using a soft matter templating technique recently developed in the Principal Investigator?s laboratory. The approach will be based on the self-assembly of solid-stabilized emulsions that inherently have a tunable co-continuous microstructure, and subsequent chemical transformations of their different phases. The required processing conditions to convert these co-continuous soft materials into electrochemically functional composites will be systematically investigated, and the fundamental roles of the physicochemical and processing parameters in controlling their morphology and electrochemical performance will be addressed. If successful, the proposed program will institute a new approach to the design of composite electrodes that meet the design criteria for efficient storage and rapid delivery of electrochemical energy, made possible by their unique microstructure. Because the synthesis protocol is based on self-assembly in multi-phase mixtures, it allows such materials to be readily prepared in macroscopic dimensions with co-continuous morphology that is tunable at the microscopic level. Understanding the fundamental parameters that govern the processing of these soft material templates into co-continuous composites can also have a strong impact in a diverse array of other applications including catalysis, tissue engineering, separations, and fundamental studies of transport through porous media.